If you’ve followed Flyers injury reports in general and during this season in particular, it’s tough to believe anything you read. Holmgren was initially optimistic about Chris Pronger’s injury situation – which is amusing in hindsight since Pronger might not play another shift of NHL hockey. Then again, Holmgren was also positive about Bryzgalov returning from an injury late in the regular season … and he actually did.

Another thing that compounds the confusion is that for all of Peter Laviolette’s positivity, he might go with Sergei Bobrovsky even if injuries aren’t the main determining factor.

It’s all a bit bewildering, but for now we’ll take the Flyers word for it. Bryzgalov might not have a hip issue, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t injured. Some Philly fans would say he’s playing like an injured netminder, anyway.

In other news from Eskin, James van Riemsdyk has been cleared to play while Nicklas Grossmann isn’t likely to be available for Game 4. Just like with Breezy, it sounds like we’ll just need to wait and see what happens on Friday.

1. Goalie questions. Neither team can feel 100 percent comfortable in net. For better or worse, Martin Brodeur is essentially grandfathered into the New Jersey goal while the Panthers might be better off going with Brodeur’s former backup in Scott Clemmensen rather than Jose Theodore. Either way, the goaltending doesn’t look to be a beauty contest.

2. Jersey’s stars. The Devils have the star power category locked up but, aside from Patrik Elias, haven’t thrived in the big time. Ilya Kovalchuk’s single career playoff win — game, not series — is pretty well-publicized and Zach Parise’s future remains in question, so there are a lot of moving parts for a team that admittedly looks much better on paper.

3. House money? The Panthers head into the playoffs in a rare spot. They’re the third seed, yet almost certainly the underdogs. They’ve already done more than people expected by a) making the playoffs and b) winning the Southeast. Playing with house money and home ice advantage? Not too shabby.